Maladjustments in Land Use 



45 



by tenants. Approximately 73 percent of the total 

 land area is in nonproductive use at j)resent, so that 

 oidy the better soils are now being cultivated. In 

 spite of this, the expenditure of Civil Works Adminis- 

 tration funds averaged $10 per capita during 1933-34. 

 Most of this area should ultimately be used for hard- 

 wood forest and flood-control purposes. 



The Outer Delta. — This section includes the margins 

 of Lake Ponchartrain, the outer "bird's-claw" of the 

 Delta and a wide strip along the entire southern coast 

 of Louisiaiui. In general, this area consists of salt 

 marsh and supports a dense cover. Here and there 

 through the marshlands run liigher and hence better 

 drained ridges of older alluvium. On or adjacent to 

 these ridges are farms, roads, and schools. The inter- 

 \ening marsh-grass areas, on the contrary, are unpop- 

 ulated or nearly so. Scattered through them however, 

 are luindreds of families, many of whom are squatters, 

 who live under conditions of almost unbelievable pov- 

 erty and isolation. 



Such a family will customarily depend upon fish and 

 shellfish for food, although some of them do clear tiny 

 patches for gardens on the smaller ridges. Some in- 

 come is derived from trapping fur-bearing animals, 

 Init the standard of living is usually at the irreducible 

 minimum. The amount of clothing purchased is un- 

 believably small and the diet is very restricted. Fre- 

 cjuently there are no roads reaching tiie homes of these 

 people and large numbers of them are without any 

 school service. 



It is estimated that 75 percent of the wild waterfowl 

 of the United States and Canada winter in this district. 

 In addition, the marsh-grass cover att'ords excellent 

 sanctuary for muskrat, opossum, mink, otter, raccoon, 

 and other fur-bearing animals. Practically all of this 

 part of the Delta region should, therefore, be with- 

 drawn from settlement and converted to game preserve. 



Southeastern Middle Coastal Plain 



Extending from the James River in Virginia to south- 

 ern Alabama is a region which, for want of a better 

 name, maj' be designated as the Southeastern Middle 

 Coastal Plain. From the standpoint of general land 

 use it is clearly set off from the lower or flatwood 

 section of the Coastal Plain on the one hand and from 

 the hilly upper section on the other. 



The surface of this region is generally level to un- 

 liidating, and averages from 100 feet in elevation at the 

 edge of the flatwoods to perhaps 500 feet at its inner 

 margin. Several large rivers cross the plain in a 

 sluggish manner, i)ut many k)calities are very poorly 

 drained. Certain large interstream areas are perma- 

 nently swampy or contain jxinds which have no outlet, 

 in numerous instances tlie river Ijottom areas are in- 



undated during spring flood and remain saturated for 

 months. 



Land Use. — Appro.ximately half of the land is still 

 in forest. Tliis is a low percentage in comparison witli 

 the adjacent Atlantic and Gulf cut-over region, but it is 

 surprisingly high for a major agricultural area. It 

 would seem desirable to encourage forest production 

 in this region because of several reasons. The rate of 

 growth is rapid, the species are valuable, large lumber 

 markets are near at hand, and most communities 

 rather urgently need an auxiliary source of income. 



Most of the nonforested land is devoted to agricul- 

 ture, and with the aid of much fertilizer the rather light 

 soils are made to produce abundant crops of cotton. 

 Cotton, however, is not the only staple crop, for it is 

 locally eclipsed in several locahties by tobacco, pea- 

 luits, melons, vegetables, or small fruits. Corn is a 

 universally miportant crop, and in hog production this 

 region leads all other portions of the South. 



The natural vegetation of the Coastal Plain was 

 mainly longleaf pine, with an undercover of wire grass. 

 Along the streams and on the swamp areas this gave 

 way to cypress and gum forests. A large proportion 

 of the longleaf pine has been cut over. In part this 

 has been the result of long-continued lumbering opera- 

 tions. Indeed, many counties of the Coastal Plain 

 today support from 10 to 50, or even more, sawmills, 

 and in several the annual cut of timber exceeds $100,000. 

 In part, however, it has resulted from general land- 

 clearing practices in connection with agriculture. The 

 soils are prevailingly sand or sandy loam, usually with 

 sandy clay subsoil, and are easily depleted of their 

 fertility. After several years of more or less con- 

 tinuous cropping in corn and cotton, therefore, it is 

 customary to abandon for a time the poorer fields and 

 to add new crop acres by clearuig woodhuul. 



In many portions of the region such methods are 

 not in vogue, and yields are maintained by crojj rota- 

 tion, application of conunercial fertilizers, and careful 

 cultivation. Such practices would be more general 

 were it not for the high proportion of farm tenancy, 

 the curse of the crop-mortgage system, and the domi- 

 nance of cotton in the production program. 



Most of the tenant-oi)erated farm units are small 

 in size and do not as a rule yielil a satisfactory income. 

 Enlargement of farms, however, does not seem to otter a 

 ready solution, because the principal staples, cotton and 

 tobacco, retjuire so much labor that the average tenant 

 family cannot efficiently operate larger acreages. 



Submarg'nial Farmhuj Areas. — In general, this region 

 is relatively freer from jnajor land-use problems than 

 most parts of the South. In many respects, therefore, 

 it is one of the better farming regions of this country. 

 In spite of this, there are numerous districts wiiere 



